Quote from JBP on December 30, 2022, 4:33 pm

I guess that makes sense. They are starting a film camera project and seeing where it goes/if it will be viable/profitable so no promises that they'll release anything.

Quote from JBP on January 25, 2023, 9:07 pm

Edit: OK I watched the video finally and the Youtube subtitles seem to be pretty good to me, so you may want to disregard the rest of this post if you've read those subtitles already.

Mitsuru Yamazaki on Facebook made an English transcript for us. 🙂 I have no idea if this is better than the translation on YouTube but thought I'd share in case it is.

I find it neat and very Pentax that they're doing this largely so they don't lose the knowledge of how to make film cameras.

Here's the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thepentaxians/permalink/2190866551100693/

And here's his translation:

Hello, I’m TKO (Takeo Suzuki).

Today, I would like to introduce our new initiative.

It is about film cameras.

Recently, the popularity of film cameras has been spreading among young users.

Film cameras are becoming more and more popular, especially among young users, because of their unique coloring and graininess.

or the excitement of not knowing the result until the film is developed.

The joy of touching old-fashioned equipment, etc.

In today's world of digital equipment, this analog feeling

This analog feeling may seem very fresh and new.

However, the environment surrounding film cameras is not always favorable.

It has been a long time since many camera manufacturers switched to digital cameras.

There are not so many types of cameras that can be purchased new.

Most of the film camera market is primarily a used market, so

Many of them need to be repaired or maintained.

I have heard that there are fewer and fewer repair parts from repair companies to support them.

I have heard that the number of repair parts for these cameras is also decreasing.

The price of cameras has gone up accordingly.

In addition, the price of film itself has also increased due to the rising cost of raw materials and a decrease in the number of types of film available.

This is unavoidable, but the environment has become very difficult for people to enjoy the hobby.

Now, PENTAX has begun to take on the challenge of a new approach.

This is the development of film cameras that anyone can enjoy with peace of mind.

We are trying to create these young users by offering them as products from a manufacturer, new and guaranteed, at a price that is affordable for them.

We want to support the film camera culture that these young users are trying to create.

There is also another reason for PENTAX. It is to pass down the technology.

We were the first to introduce film SLR cameras to the Japanese market.

Over the long years, many of the engineers who knew film cameras have reached retirement age and retired.

PENTAX has always been a company of craftsmen and serious people.

PENTAX has always been a serious company with a craftsman's spirit, and this has been its selling point for a long time.

However, that alone is not enough to make a film camera.

The know-how of manufacturing and mechanism, many techniques that cannot be expressed in drawings, and tricks of the trade are all handed down orally from generation to generation by veteran engineers.

These skills and tricks, which cannot be expressed in drawings, have been passed down from generation to generation through the oral instruction of veteran engineers.

Without these, it would be impossible to make a film camera.

When the transition from film cameras to digital cameras took place, we lost these things.

And now is the last time to pass on that know-how.

If we were to pass the baton to the younger generation of engineers, it is now or never.

In a little while longer, the engineers who know all about film will be gone.

PENTAX will never be able to make film cameras again.

Therefore, I would like to preserve the wonderful technology and know-how created by our predecessors for the next generation.

Even within the company, veteran engineers and younger engineers are having heated discussions with each other over blue-printed drawings.

We have heated discussions with the younger engineers.

We also ask our retired alumni for advice, and we work as one.

What we all say in unison is that the people of the past were amazing.

In this way, we hope to pass on the technology to the next generation.

However, those efforts are not designed to reprint past models.

We want to make a film camera that is suited to today's young users, that is equipped with the fun of film and has a low price tag.

It is no exaggeration to say that this camera group of people who love photography, the Pentax Camera Freaks, are serious about creating such a camera.

Not merely to release a single camera, but to pass on the film culture to the next generation.

It is a very long road, but we would like to make it step by step.

It is very difficult to create a high-end model in a single step, even if we make a film camera.

We have to unravel the know-how of past technologies one by one.

Therefore, we will first develop a film compact camera, then a high-end model, then an SLR camera, and eventually a film SLR camera.

Then we will develop a high-end model, and eventually an SLR camera, and eventually a full-mechanical SLR camera.

We would like to draw a roadmap and move forward step by step.

We believe that these cameras will be something that young users can enjoy to the fullest.

After all this talk, you may be thinking, "Why stop with digital? You may be thinking, "Why stop with digital?

This is by no means the case. We will continue to work on digital, so please don't worry.

We will continue to do our best in both areas, with a slight nudge from you that you don't have time to do such things.

We are going to do our best at both.

This time is truly a challenge.

I honestly don't know if I can do it or not. I may fail along the way.

But I am determined to make this project a success for young users who are interested in the world of film, and for veteran users who have had this desire for a long time.

For all of you who love film cameras

I would like to help create an environment where people can enjoy film with peace of mind.

I hope to be able to help in this way.

The passion of each and every one of you will make miracles happen.

If you are interested or find this video interesting, we would be very much encouraged if you support us.

Let's make it together. Thank you very much.

Just one last thing, Pentax Pentax Pentax, it's film.

TKO (Takeo) said.

Quote from Alen K on February 3, 2023, 5:48 pm

Film: Been there. Done that. Don't intend to to do it again.

As background, I started doing photography in 1977 when I purchased a Russian Zenit-E 35mm SLR. It was the only 35mm SLR I could afford at the time (being a high-school student). I replaced it many years later with a Pentax K1000. Soon after that, I also bought an Olympus OM-1 to be used exclusively for astrophotography and later acquired a Nikon FG.

I used those cameras a lot and I still have them. But I don't intend to use them again. (Maybe I should now sell them, given the current film craze.) My Pentax K-3II is in EVERY way superior to my film cameras. It isn't even close. That's especially true for astrophotography.

I hold no nostalgia for film. I enjoyed it while I used it but now I use a demonstrably superior technology. I think many or perhaps most people today who yearn to use film, don't have much if any prior experience with it. They think its limitations are charming or even consider them strengths. (Case in point: The limited number of photos per roll of film forces you to consider every image you take carefully. You can't just click away without thought. Okay, but do you really need a film camera to make you think carefully about how you take an image?)

I have a turntable too and I still use it with my old LP collection, some LPs of which I have never got around to replacing with CDs. But I will never buy another LP. Again, no nostalgia; I am just too cheap to replace all those LPs!

 

Quote from JBP on February 3, 2023, 10:57 pm

Quote from Alen K on February 3, 2023, 5:48 pm

Film: Been there. Done that. Don't intend to to do it again.

As background, I started doing photography in 1977 when I purchased a Russian Zenit-E 35mm SLR. It was the only 35mm SLR I could afford at the time (being a high-school student). I replaced it many years later with a Pentax K1000. Soon after that, I also bought an Olympus OM-1 to be used exclusively for astrophotography and later acquired a Nikon FG.

I used those cameras a lot and I still have them. But I don't intend to use them again. (Maybe I should now sell them, given the current film craze.) My Pentax K-3II is in EVERY way superior to my film cameras. It isn't even close. That's especially true for astrophotography.

I hold no nostalgia for film. I enjoyed it while I used it but now I use a demonstrably superior technology. I think many or perhaps most people today who yearn to use film, don't have much if any prior experience with it. They think its limitations are charming or even consider them strengths. (Case in point: The limited number of photos per roll of film forces you to consider every image you take carefully. You can't just click away without thought. Okay, but do you really need a film camera to make you think carefully about how you take an image?)

I have a turntable too and I still use it with my old LP collection, some LPs of which I have never got around to replacing with CDs. But I will never buy another LP. Again, no nostalgia; I am just too cheap to replace all those LPs!

 

I think the reason film has made a comeback is the same reason records have. It's not about having the best thing, that much is certain for all the reasons you state (and many more!). It's just some intangible thing, or the sum of many small things, that makes it enjoyable for people even though there are technically better options. I'm sure some people can quantify it and give tangible reasons why, but for most I think it doesn't matter exactly why they like it, just that they like it.

One interesting thing is that young people are doing it. I get people like me shooting film due to nostalgia, since I started out with film (I still remember my little yellow film kid's camera... the first photo I remember taking was of a manatee. Hard to beat nostalgia!). But these youngins seem to be drawn to old stuff as sort of a rejection of the constant modern push for new crap, which I think we all fall victim to to varying degrees (and I certainly have).  "You gotta upgrade your iphone every year - look! There's a better model!!!!!!" It's the same with cameras... worse if you're into cameras haha. So I think for some of them at least it's just a bit of a rejection of that mentality. You see it with the digicam crowd too, not just film. I think that's neat.

What is ironic about all this is that in making NEW film cameras Pentax may be going against the very thing that makes old film cameras cool in the first place: they're old! But we'll see. Maybe there is a market for it, and maybe it would be neat to have a film camera that can use modern lenses, autofocus, and metering.

But Pentax did say that a big reason they're doing this is just so they don't lose the knowledge. I think that's a noble goal. IMO it is sad to see knowledge, skills, and entire trades lost to the past.

Quote from Alen K on February 4, 2023, 12:56 am

I definitely agree that a lot of the appeal is because film is very different, both in use and in results. And it is NOT digital. So you get statements such as “it’s so organic.” The same thing is said of LPs for the same reasons. And now of the Compact Cassette, which may be one of the worst audio formats ever marketed. (Wax cylinders may have been worse, but not by much.) To all of this I say “Bah humbug.” 😄

But if Pentax/Ricoh can make a buck selling new film cameras, more power to them. I support anything that potentially keeps the company alive and producing new products.

 

 

Quote from JBP on February 4, 2023, 4:01 pm

Quote from Alen K on February 4, 2023, 12:56 am

I definitely agree that a lot of the appeal is because film is very different, both in use and in results. And it is NOT digital. So you get statements such as “it’s so organic.” The same thing is said of LPs for the same reasons. And now of the Compact Cassette, which may be one of the worst audio formats ever marketed. (Wax cylinders may have been worse, but not by much.) To all of this I say “Bah humbug.”

But if Pentax/Ricoh can make a buck selling new film cameras, more power to them. I support anything that potentially keeps the company alive and producing new products.

 

 

Oh man, are cassettes making a comeback too?! That one I don't get. Nothing fun about the player eating your tape and then you have to untangle that mess!! 😭 I did enjoy recording the radio to cassette though. And I had a voice recorder I'd record to. I was an idiot child and documented my first swear word. Mom heard it playback on the tape and boy was I in trouble for that! Simpler times. Now parents have to worry about Snapchat etc. 🙁

And I agree, anything to keep Pentax around is good in my book. 🙂 I love their dedication to the optical viewfinder but I'd be fine if they went mirrorless as well. I prefer OVF but not if it means Pentax goes out of business. No other camera checks all the boxes for me like theirs. Ergos, controls, build quality, functions, customization, I love the lenses and rendering etc. But we'll see, with all the "what's old is new again" going around maybe it is smart to be the only game in town making new DSLRs. Sorry, that was a bit of a rabbit trail. 😛

Quote from Alen K on February 8, 2023, 2:22 am

Oh man, are cassettes making a comeback too?!

https://thehustle.co/12132022-cassettes/amp/

Quote from KankRat on June 19, 2024, 12:25 pm

So... it's a half frame with zone focusing.  Can't say I saw that coming.

PENTAX 17

Quote from Kamera Brand on June 19, 2024, 1:26 pm

Quote from KankRat on June 19, 2024, 12:25 pm

So... it's a half frame with zone focusing.  Can't say I saw that coming.

PENTAX 17

And its 550EUR !! For that kind of money there are so many other options.
I really hope they sell well but on the other hand I can't think of anyone I would recommend this to.